Chicken Millet Soup

 

Chicken millet soup is nutritious, healthy, easy to make, and the most satisfying soup to enjoy the cold weather. 

Well, if you ask me what kind of person I am when it comes to food. I am a soup person! I love including soups in my regular menu. In other words, I can define that soup is my comfort meal. There are many varieties of soup available around but personally, I prefer my soup loaded with vegetables, proteins, and carbs to make it a complete meal. My today's soup post is a simple variation of my regular chicken soup in which I have included Kudo millet and also, used the technique which I recently learned from my culinary class. I have prepared this soup with the basic ingredients which are readily available at home. 

So far I have posted many interesting soups on my page like Betel leaves chicken soup, carrot, and Beetroot soup, Veggies, and dal soup, Chayote soup, Sausage coconut milk soup, etc. but including millets in my soup was on my to-do list for a quite long time. Apart from chicken and millet, I have included vegetables and spices to the soup which indeed makes the soup a complete balanced meal. We know that a balanced meal consists of proteins, grains, and vegetables. Likewise, this soup consists of all the elements required for a balanced meal. And for all vegetarians, who are looking out for an option for chicken. Don't worry! Just skip the chicken and make a lovely vegetable stock using onion, celery, and leek. And, include chickpeas to get the protein in the soup. 

I chose to include millet in chicken soup is to make my little one learn about the benefits of millets. Being a picky eater, he doesn't prefer to include millet in his menu but as a mother, isn't my responsibility to feed him a nutritious meal? So, I decided to include millet in his favorite chicken soup and he loved the soup especially the addition of millet excited him and asked me whether I included tiny ball pasta in this soup :) What else do I need to be happier :) 

The ingredients used in this recipe to make a delicious soup: 

Millet - Millets which is considered a poor man's food in olden days is a trend food ingredient now because of the awareness of its nutritional values. Millet is a whole grain and used in meals, in the substitution of regular rice. There are different varieties of millets available in the market. Little millet, Kudo millet, Pearl millet, Foxtail millet, etc, are some of the varieties of millets. Incorporating millets in our diet helps in weight loss, improves immunity, controls blood sugar, helps in digestion, acts as antioxidants, etc. Apart from serving millets as rice, these can also be included in the baking. Many interesting recipes like Burnt garlic fried rice using foxtail millet, Kudo millet - Poha idly, Millet maple syrup Pongal, Millet chicken pulao, etc. can be prepared using millets. In this recipe, I have included Kudo millet which can also be substituted with any varieties of millet. Kudo millet resembles the rice compared to the other varieties. The cooking method is also similar to regular rice. The millet is soaked for a few minutes before adding to the soup which fastens the cooking process.  

Chicken - Boneless chicken is used in this recipe for convenience but adding chicken with bones gives a lovely flavor to the soup. But, make sure to separate the flesh after preparing the broth. The cooked chicken is shredded and added back to the soup. 

Vegetables - I have included only the basic vegetables like onions, tomatoes, ginger, and garlic in this recipe. Variations can be made by including carrots, pumpkin, etc. The ginger and garlic are included in the soup to aid the digestion. 

Spice bag - The spice bag consists of bay leaf, crushed peppercorns, and fresh thyme. I have included 4 varieties of peppercorns to enhance the flavor of the soup. All the ingredients are tied in a muslin cloth and dropped in the stockpot. The spices can also be included directly in the soup but this method helps to discard the spices easily. 

Butter - Butter is used as fat in this recipe which also helps to enhance the flavor. If you are health conscious, feel free to use olive oil. 

Water - I have included water in this recipe but to make it more flavorful, include chicken stock or vegetable stock. 

Here come the recipe and procedure for the Chicken Millet Soup... 

Ingredients:

70 gm Kudo Millet 

15 gm Butter 

180 gm Onion, Medium dice 

60 gm Tomato, Medium dice 

330 gm Chicken, boneless 

6 gm Ginger, chopped 

10 gm Garlic, peeled and chopped 

750ml water + 240 ml water 

Salt to taste 

Finely chopped Spring onions for garnishing ( alternatively, coriander leaves can be used ) 

Spice bag / Sachet: 

1 Bay leaf 

2 Sprig of Fresh Thyme 

3 gm Peppercorns (I have used 4 varieties of peppercorns in this recipe) 

Method: 

Keep the mise en place ready. 

Heat butter in a stockpot and add onions. 

 

 

Sweat the onions and add chopped garlic followed by ginger. 

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until it turns soft. 

Add chicken pieces and saute. 

Now add 750ml water along with the spice bag. 

Tie the spice bag at the handle which helps to remove the spice bag easily. 

Skim regularly to remove dirt and oil from the surface. 

Let it simmer for 30 - 40 minutes. Once done, remove the spice bag and discard it. 

Remove the cooked chicken pieces, shred, and keep aside.  

Transfer the remaining ingredients to the blender and grind it to a smooth puree. 

Strain the ground puree and keep aside. 

Soak the millets for half an hour. Wash and drain the water. 

Heat the strained puree and add the washed millets followed by the remaining water and salt. 

Let it cook until the millets get cooked. 

Add seasoning and the shredded chicken to the soup. 

Boil for a couple of minutes and remove from the flame. 

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves. Serve hot. 

As I mentioned above, though it requires an extra step to prepare the broth, it is quite easy to make the recipe. Grinding the cooked vegetables into smooth puree gives a lovely body to the soup. The texture will be smooth and creamy. The starch from the millet also increases the thickness of the soup. The soup tastes delicious with the dominant flavor of the chicken. The perfect blend of millet, soup, and shredded chicken in each spoon will satisfy the palate for sure. The addition of seasoning is always one's preference so adjust according to the taste bud. 

I have involved a few techniques like skimming, preparing a broth, and preparing spice bag/sachet in this recipe. Skimming is nothing but removing the dirt and oil from the surface of the broth. It is always recommended to simmer the flame which helps the dirt and oil to float on the surface of the stock/broth. I felt really great to involve a few skills in this recipe from my culinary learning. The majority of my soup post (which I had posted earlier) had spices but I never tried them making a sachet. And also, after implementing the skimming technique in stock/broth, I noticed a major difference in the texture of the soup. I would love to try more soup recipes in the future which includes the other techniques too. In fact, I am planning to prepare this soup again but with the addition of diced vegetables and cream to make it healthier and rich. And also, planning to try seafood soup with the addition of millet. 

Variations: 

 If you want to add more vegetables to this recipe, follow the below procedure. 

Cut the vegetables like carrot, celery, etc. into small dice.

Before boiling the strained puree, heat 5gms of butter and saute the diced vegetables. Then, add the strained puree and follow the process as mentioned in the recipe. 

Substitute water with vegetable stock or chicken stock to enhance the flavor of the soup.  

I have garnished the soup with finely chopped spring onions but can also use coriander leaves which gives a lovely and fresh taste. 

I hope you all loved this interesting soup and if you try this recipe, please feel free to share your feedback to priyasmenu@gmail.com or tag me at @priyas.menu on Instagram. 

References:

Lang, A. (2020, March 19). What Is Millet? Nutrition, Benefits, and More. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-millet 

Marakani, P. (2019, November 22). Millets: Types, Benefits and Recipes: Millets & Weight Loss. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.healthifyme.com/blog/millets-types-benefits-recipes-weight-loss/

Hong Kong Noodle Soup

This is my first time participating in an interesting event happening among food bloggers called Food Bloggers Recipe Swap. The concept of the group is that we have to recreate recipe from our co-blogger to whom we got paired with. This month I was paired with an amazing blogger as well as a trained Chef Mireille who blogs at www.theschizochef.com. I was truly amazed with the varieties of cuisine and recipe in her page. I have almost checked all her recipes from Recipe index and got into a confusion of which one to try. Even I had bookmarked few recipes to try them in the future. Such an amazing space and must visit page. While browsing her page for a recipe , my little one happened to see her delicious Hong Kong Noodles and got tempted as he love soupy noodles a lot. In addition, the word Hong Kong fascinated him as it was his first international trip. All the more reason for him to be back of me to prepare this Hong Kong Noodle Soup. As a mother, I fulfilled his cute request and he really enjoyed the soup. I have to Thank Chef Mireille for sharing such an easy and delicious soup. I made few changes by including my son's favourite veggie Mushroom and Tofu in the substitute of prawns. And the soup turned out very delicious with a quite simple process.

Click HERE to view the original version of Hong Kong Noodles from Chef Mireille's Page.

Ingredients :

3 Cups Water
1/2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
1 Tbsp Rice Wine
1 Tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
1/2 Tsp Sesame oil
1 Tsp White Pepper
1/4 Cup Scallions, finely chopped
1 Pack Plain Noodles
Tofu, chopped into cubes
Mushroom, sliced

Method :


Boil water in a large vessel and add soy sauce followed by white pepper, rice wine, sugar, salt, oil and scallions.

Once it starts boiling, add tofu and mushroom pieces in it.

Let it boil for 5 - 10 minutes or until the veggies get cooked.

Meanwhile, cook plain noodles in another pot of boiling water until it turns soft.

Once done, drain the noodles and keep aside.

To serve, take a portion of noodles in a bowl and add the hot soup along with Tofu and Mushroom.

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with Toast.

Carrot & Beetroot Soup / Soup Series

The credit of including healthy soups in our daily menu goes to our Soup series event which is happening in my space and co-blogger Sujitha Ruban's page. We started our event on 21st November and so far completed 7 different varieties of interesting tasty soups.  Click the below links to view all our soup recipes.

My Soup Series - Click HERE

Sujitha Ruban's Soup Series - Click HERE

And coming to my today's soup recipe,  posting a healthy and tasty soup prepared using carrot, tomato and beetroot. The addition of beetroot gives a lovely colour to the soup. Easy to prepare yet very nutritious and yummy.

Ingredients :

1 Onion, Finely chopped 

3 Carrots, Chopped 

1 Beetroot, chopped 

2 Tomatoes, chopped

2 Cups of Water 

1 Bay leaf 

Salt to taste 

1/4 Tsp Pepper powder 

Method :

Add onion along with carrots, beetroot, tomatoes and bay leaf to a pressure cooker.

Pour in the measured amount of water and pressure cook it for 6 - 7 whistles. 

Once done, switch off the flame and wait till the pressure gets released. 

Discard the bay leaf from the soup and strain the stock. Keep aside. 

Blend the remaining ingredients and strain it using stainer. 

Now combine the stock and strained soup together in a pressure cooker. 

Add the required amount of salt and pepper powder.

Boil it again for another couple of minutes and serve hot. 

Serving Options :

Serve hot with soup sticks or toast. 

Tangy Lemongrass Noodles Soup / Soup Series

This tangy refreshing noodles soup is a perfect option to serve as a breakfast. The tomatoes are blanched and made into puree to get a silky texture. The finely chopped lemongrass is boiled in a chicken stock to get a refreshing flavour and then mixed up with a tomato puree. At this stage, before adding tomato puree, the chopped lemongrass pieces can also be strained. Instead of fresh ones, lemongrass powder can also be used. The flavour and taste of noodles gets enhanced when it is simmered and cooked in a soup.

Check out the below links for delicious soups.

My soup series : Click HERE

Sujitha Ruban's soup series : Click HERE  

Ingredients :

5 Tomatoes
2 Tbsp Finely chopped Lemongrass
2 1/2 Cups Water 
1 Tsp Chicken powder ( Optional ) 
Salt to taste 
50 gms of Noodles ( I have used Japanese Noodles in this recipe ) 
5 - 6 Basil leaves
2 Eggs, Boiled and sliced for serving  

Method :

Blanch tomatoes, peel the skin and grind to make a puree. Keep aside.

Boil the measured water and add chicken powder. ( Veg or non veg stock can also be used ).

Add the finely chopped lemongrass and let it boil for couple of minutes in a medium flame. ( you can also strain the lemongrass at this stage ).

Now add the tomato puree and add the required amount of salt.

Once it starts boiling, add basil leaves followed by Noodles.

Cook till the noodles becomes soft or as per the timing mentioned in the noodles pack.

Once the noodles gets cooked, switch off the flame and transfer it to a soup bowl.

Place a sliced boiled eggs and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with boiled eggs and salad.

Veggies & Dal Soup / Soup Series

In our Soup Series Event, me and my friend Sujitha had so far completed 5 different varieties of soups. And in that array, sharing my today's healthy and nutritious soup which is prepared using 4 varieties of vegetables and 3 varieties of protein rich dal. This yummy soup is a perfect healthy breakfast option when served with a Toasted bread. In this recipe, I have strained the soup after blending according to my family member's taste. But serving as such without straining the soup also increases the nutritious fact.

Check out the below links for more healthy and interesting soups.

My Soup Series : Click HERE

Sujitha Ruban's Soup Series : Click HERE

Ingredients :

1 Tbsp Moong dal 
1 Tbsp Toor dal 
1 Tbsp Horsegram / Kollu 
1/4 Cup Finely chopped Spring Onions ( Bulb part ) 
1/4 Cup Finely chopped Carrots
1/4 Cup Finely chopped Bottle gourd
1/4 Cup Beans, chopped 
1/4 Cup Finely chopped Capsicum / Bell pepper 
1 Bay leaf
Salt to taste 
2 Cups Water 
1/4 Tsp Pepper powder 

Method :

Wash and soak Moong dal along with Toor dal and Horsegram for an hour.

Drain the water and add it to a pressure cooker.

Add all the chopped veggies along with bay leaf to the pressure cooker.

Add the measured water and pressure cook it for 6 - 7 whistles.

Once done, switch off the flame and wait till the pressure of cooker gets released.

Remove the bay leaf from the soup and blend the remaining cooked dal - veggies using blender.

Strain the soup using strainer and boil it again for 5 minutes by adding salt and pepper powder.

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with Toasted bread.

Note :

Straining the soup is optional.

Chow - Chow Soup / Chayote Soup / Soup Series

Chayote, which is popularly known as Chow - Chow in Tamilnadu is widely used in our regular cooking in the form of Kootu, Sambhar, poriyal etc. Apart from the regular cooking, this veggie can also be turned into a flavourful soup. The chayote is sautéed and cooked along with a tomatoes and freshly ground powders is further blend into smooth paste and strained to get a delicious soup. This veggie is very low in calorie, rich in dietary fibre, minerals and vitamins. Being low in calorie, this veggie is highly recommended to include in a regular diet during weight loss program.

Click the below links to enjoy a varieties of tasty soups from our Soup series event.

My Soup series : Click HERE

Sujitha Ruban's Soup Series : Click HERE

Ingredients :

2 Chayote / Chow - Chow, Cut into small pieces
1/4 Cup Finely chopped Spring onions ( Bulb part )
2 Tomatoes, chopped 
1 Tsp Olive oil / Cooking oil 
2 - 3 Garlic pods, peeled and chopped
1 Bay leaf
Small piece of Cinnamon Stick 
1/4 Tsp Chilli powder 
2 Cups Water 
Salt to taste 
Coriander leaves for garnishing

To roast and grind :

1/2 Tsp Jeera / Cumin seeds
1/4 Tsp Saunf 
1 Tsp Coriander seeds

Method :

Dry roast the given ingredients in "To roast and grind" and grind into fine powder. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a cooker and add garlic pods followed by bay leaf and cinnamon stick.

Add the finely chopped spring onions followed by tomatoes and chayote.

Saute and add chilli powder along with the freshly ground powder and required amount of salt.

Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook it for 7 - 8 whistles.

Once done, switch of the flame and wait till the pressure of cooker gets released.

Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick from the soup.

Blend the remaining ingredients and strain it using strainer.

Adjust salt and boil it again for couple of minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with bread toast or croutons.

Sausage Coconut Milk Soup / Soup Series

Sipping a bowl of flavorful Thai inspired soup while drafting this post is a real energy booster after a long tiring day. This is an easy yet delicious soup prepared using 2 varieties of sausages, few thai ingredients and coconut milk. Chicken paprika lyoner is also a variety of thin sausage with a spicy taste of paprika. I have used galangal paste and lemongrass powder in this recipe which can be replaced with fresh ingredients. The flavour from lemongrass, galangal and basil leaves gives a refreshing taste to the soup. Instead of chicken powder, fresh chicken or fish stock can be used which also enhances the taste.

If you are a Thai cuisine lover like me, then this simple and flavorful soup will make your day for sure. Here is the recipe....

Click the below links to relish a flavourful and tasty soups from our Soup Series Event.

My Soup Series - Click HERE

Sujitha Ruban's Soup Series - Click HERE

Ingredients :

2 Cups Water 
2 Tsp Chicken powder 
3/4 Cup Coconut Milk 
3 Sausages, Chopped 
3 Chicken Paprika Lyoner, Cut into strips ( Optional ) 
1/2 Tsp Galangal paste
1/2 Tsp Lemongrass powder
1 Tsp Fish sauce 
Salt to taste ( If necessary ) 
6 - 7 Fresh Basil leaves 

Method :

Boil water and add chicken powder.

Let it boil for a minute and add galangal paste followed by lemongrass powder.

Add the chopped sausages and boil till the sausages gets cooked.

Now add coconut milk followed by fish sauce and basil leaves. ( Add salt at this stage, if necessary ).

Boil it for another couple of minutes and switch off the flame.

Garnish with Basil leaves and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with breads or any chicken or fish or prawn starters.

Notes :

I have used chicken powder in this recipe to prepare stock which can also be substituted with fresh homemade stock.

I have used 2 varieties of sausages in this recipe which can also be replaced with any one flavoured sausage or chicken.